Oh. My. Gosh. This book blew me away. Like. I wasn’t expecting to like it so much. I mean. I KNEW I’d like it. Based off the description I had a feeling that I would presuming that the author’s writing style meshed well with my personal reading style. And oh does it.

From what little I know (and not for lack of trying) of African and Caribbean religions this book leans heavily into them for the magical elements. And I adore when people bring non European centric religions and beliefs into books because it gives me a bit more understanding into them and they break the monotony of Greek/Roman/Norse/English/French/German/Irish based religions/mythology/fairy tales that were all I’ve heard growing up. Even if what it is is a different country’s interpretation of a Greek/Roman/Norse/English/French/German/Irish based religious/mythology/fairy tale. It gives it a twist of that country and culture and shows that area’s tastes/flair. Which can make the most well known and over heard stories sound brand new. Which is what this does. It weaves in a little bit of the tale of medusa, well parts of minus the decapitation parts, with modern day high school and “good” hair vs “bad” hair (neither of which I actually believe exist but that’s neither here nor there) and bullying and trying to just fit in and survive.

For some, I could see it being a horror story. For me it was a fantastically told fantasy mixed in with just enough real life that I could just imagine it being true. But it still reeled me in and didn’t let me go. Not even when the story finished. When it finished I was still thinking about it and wondering what happened to everyone. And wound up buying books 1 & 2 in the series. I’m just waiting for book 3 so I can binge read all 3 books.

All in all, this is a FANTASTIC story that I’d definitely recommend to everyone to buy and read. And I’d give it a 4.5 if I could out of 5 stars only because of the minor triggers that I got out of it. It’s the only reason I can’t give it a full 5 stars. But otherwise, definitely read this book.